Disclaimer: I don't own Jericho or anything related to the show.
Eric was on his way to City Hall when he witnessed what would later be called the most horrific car accident in Jericho's history. He heard screaming, but didn't realize it was him.
Another witness, Skylar Stevens-Turner, would later tell Eric that he wasn't the only one screaming. The six months pregnant eighteen year old couldn't even believe what she was seeing.
Jake Green had just left City Hall to patrol town. He hadn't been able to get his seatbelt on yet when he saw the car come down Main Street, going the wrong way. He also noticed Darcy Hawkins' car get hit. He wasn't expecting the driver to run into him. He especially wasn't expecting his car to flip or for the windshield to break, sending him through it.
Jake was in a lot of pain. He couldn't even tell where he was hurt. Jake was surprised that he was even still conscious. Eric came bolting up to his brother. "Hey, big brother," he said.
Jake tried to smile. "Hey, little… brother," he gasped out. It hurt to even talk.
Eric tried to stay calm. "You're going to be okay," he tried to comfort. His brother was hurt so bad.
"Hurts," Jake gasped out. He choked for a second and spit up blood. He knew it meant internal bleeding, but was in too much pain to care at that moment.
Eric really did sob. "I know it does, Jake. But you have to stay awake. You may have a concussion." Where was the ambulance? The clinic wasn't that far away.
Jake didn't feel well. He didn't think he could survive this. He was going to die at the age of thirty-five. "Love you," Jake whispered. He had to tell his brother that.
"Don't you do that," Eric said. He couldn't handle a good-bye from Jake. His brother was not going to die.
"Have to," Jake struggled to say. For a brief second, he wondered if Darcy Hawkins was hurt.
Eric sobbed in relief as the ambulance finally pulled up. "Tell… everyone… love… them," Jake said. He coughed up blood again.
"You'll tell them yourself," Eric sobbed. He got into the ambulance with his brother as the paramedics loaded him up.
XXXXXXXXXX
Darcy had woken up just as the ambulances arrived. Her head was hurting so much, and so was her left leg.
"How badly are you hurt, Mrs. Hawkins?" asked a paramedic. He had heard that the sheriff and Mrs. Hawkins had been involved in a bad car accident, but the scene had been horrifying.
"My head and left leg hurt," Darcy explained. She briefly remembered that she had seen Jake in the middle of the road, but pushed that thought away as she was loaded into the ambulance.
"We're taking you to the clinic now," Marcia Hayes, a paramedic in town for nine months, explained. The clinic could deal with the injuries. Jake Green was hurt badly, but he seemed to be stable for now.
"Call my husband. He's at home," Darcy instructed. She knew Rob would freak out, but he had a right to be worried about her.
The driver that had started the whole thing was being placed in a body bag. He had been killed after hitting the sheriff's car.
XXXXXXXXXX
It took only a minute or two to arrive at the clinic, but to Eric it felt like forever. The paramedics rushed Jake into the clinic. Gail, who had been volunteering for the day, met her two sons. "How bad is he hurt?" she demanded. Her little boy had been hurt so many times since returning to Jericho in September 2006.
"We have to see, Mrs. Green," explained one of the doctors, Rhiannon Henderson. She and a few other doctors rushed to see what was wrong with Jake.
"I called Heather. Mary's on her way to pick her up," Gail explained, trying to stop her hands from shaking. She knew her son had been hurt, but she hadn't realized how badly.
"It happened so fast," Eric said absently. His knees buckled, and if Bill hadn't been near him, Eric would have collapsed. Bill helped him to one of the chairs.
"We'll need to get a statement on what happened," Bill told him reluctantly. Skylar had already given her account of what happened, and a few other witnesses were being interviewed by Jimmy.
"Not now," Gail snapped. Her youngest son was in no condition to explain what had happened.
"It's okay," Eric assured his mother. It really wasn't, because he was worried about Jake, but the details wouldn't leave him alone. He began to explain the chain of events in great detail.
Rob Hawkins burst into the clinic a few minutes later, Grace and Andrea in the double stroller. "I was told my wife was in an accident," he frantically told the receptionist.
"Mr. Hawkins, your wife is currently being looked over. Sit down," the receptionist instructed. Rob glared at her, but she didn't relent.
He sat down near Eric and Gail. Eric was still talking about what happened. It seemed like he had gone into shock.
"Do they know why the driver did this?" Rob asked Bill. He already knew that the driver was dead, but no one seemed to figure out why this had happened.
Bill nodded. "They're going to do an autopsy, but we're pretty sure that he was drunk," he explained.
"I'm glad he's dead," Eric said. That irresponsible man had hurt his brother, so it was logical that it was good that the driver had paid for it.
Gail would have normally scolded her son, but she was too worried about Jake. She sighed as Mary came into the clinic, Heather following her on the crutches.
"How is he?" Heather demanded. She hadn't expected the call from Jimmy. Her husband was hurt.
"We don't know," Gail explained. She felt helpless for the first time since Johnston's death.
"I want to know who did it," Rob said. If the driver hadn't died, Rob would have made sure that he paid for hurting his wife and Jake.
Bill sighed. "We can't release that information until we contact his family, Hawkins. They need to know first." He hoped that Jake came out of this alive.
"Where are my grandchildren?" Gail asked. She hoped that they would have been there to distract her from worrying about Jake.
"Mrs. Carter is watching them," Mary explained as Donovan entered the clinic. Emily was stuck at work until school was over, so she had sent Donovan.
"Mr. Hawkins, your wife is asking for you," Jessica said. Rob got up and entered his wife's room. Mary watched Grace and Andrea for him.
XXXXXXX
"How are you doing, Baby?" he asked her. Darcy hugged her husband.
"I just have a concussion and a broken leg. They're keeping me overnight for observation," she explained. Darcy had tried to resist staying, but it hadn't worked.
"You scared me," Rob admitted. He couldn't imagine living without his wife. How was he supposed to take care of three kids and pay for a teenager in college?
"Is Jake okay?" Darcy asked. She still remembered seeing Jake.
Rob shrugged. "No one knows yet," he explained. He hoped his best friend was okay. He didn't know what would happen if Jake died.
"I tried to get out of the way, but it didn't work," Darcy said. This accident had brought up the memories of an accident she had been involved in during college. It had been right after she met Rob. It had been snowing and the ice had sent her off the road. Come to think of it, that accident had also resulted in a concussion.
"At least you weren't hurt that much," Rob pointed out. His wife had been lucky.
"The doctor said I'll probably be bruised tomorrow," Darcy replied. She already had a feeling that tomorrow would be a painful day.
"I'm not surprised," Rob answered. The panic he felt was finally starting to go away.
"Are you going to be able to take care of two babies tonight?" Darcy questioned. She was worried about Sam and her babies.
Rob nodded. "I'll be fine with them," he said.
He and Darcy began talking about what they planned to do while she recuperated from the accident.
XXXXXXXX
Jake had lost conscious awhile ago, and the doctors were working frantically to help him.
"What are his total injuries?" Rhiannon asked. The sheriff had to go into surgery for internal bleeding, but there were so many other injuries.
"Internal bleeding, chance of a head injury, broken hip, broken fingers, several cuts, a lot of blood loss, and a dislocated shoulder," another doctor listed.
"We need to get him into surgery immediately," Rhiannon declared. She wanted to save Jake Green.
"We'll start prepping him," another doctor agreed.
They were ready to leave for the operating room when Jake flat lined.
TBC